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Alexaj^^drk James MacDonald, 



STAR GAZING 

METRICAL 
COMPOSITIONS 

BY 

ALEXANDRE JAMES MacDONALD 

M 
OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 



COPYRIGHT APPLIED FOR 



1907 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
• Two CoDles Received 

MAY 24 190? 

CUsS A l^Xc!, No. 
COPY B. 



PIO. 

n 






CONTENTS. 



PAGB 

Dedication . . . . . . . . . . .5 

Preface . . . . . . . '. . . . . .6 

Prelude 9 

Time and After Time ......... 9 

Song to Mary 15 

Long Time Ago . . . . . . . . . • 15 

London ............ 16 

Modern Chivalry . . . . . . . . . .16 

To Leo the XIII 17 

The Heavenly Visitant. 

Prelude i 21 

Prelude 2 21 

The Heavenly Visitant . . . . . . . . .21 

Prelude ............ 27 

The Graveyard Winds ......... 27 

Methinks It Was a Vision Pass'd Me By . . . . .29 

Sonnet to Helen -30 

Margarite . . ........ 30 

To Swinburne. . . . . . . . . : • 3' 

Byron 32 

Chatterton ........... 33 

Keats 33 

Poe 34 

To the Spirit of Chopin ........ 34 

Impromptu to Burns ......... 35 

Shelley 35 

Star Gazing. 
Poems to Thais. 

Prelude 35 

I Saw Thee Glancing ......... 36 

To Thais ........... 37 

To Thais 38 

When Days and Weeks and Months and Years Have Pass'd . 39 

To Thais .40 

Thinking of Thais .......... 40 

Thine Eyes Glanced Hate . . . . . . . -41 

To Thais . . . . . . . . . . .42 

To Thais 43 

■Song to Thais ....... . . 43 

To Thais . . . . . . . . . .44 

To the Spirit of the Day 44 

Their Sun Hath Set . 47 

To an Indian Girl . . . . . . . .48 

The Three Tides 49 



There's Hatred in My Heart 50 

We Backward Look 51 

The Outbound Ship . . 51 

To Michael Ambrose MacNiel 52 

Star Gazing. 

In Joyful Realms 52 

Yonder -53 

When Darkness Comes . . , . . . . . -55 

•' 55 

That Darksome River 55 

In After Time .......... 56 

That Darkness Waits Us 57 

In Days of Brightness 58 

In Coming Time 58 

Ode to Two Years . . . . . . , . . -59 

When Comes Decay 61 

Translations. 
Biographical Notes : 

Mr. William Shumsky 62 

Mr. Price Cottle 62 

A Dream (From the Hebrew) ....... 62 

Sonnet to Esther (From the Hebrew ...... 63 

Song to Rosena (From the Hebrew of William Shumsky) . . 63 
Sweet Maiden of the Brown Eye (From the Hebrew) . . .64 

Sonnet (From the Esperanto of Price Cottle). Suspicion . . 65 



Sonnet (From the Esperanto of Price Cottle) 

On Vacation 

Prelude, Over Yonder 

To Dr. Maurice E. Paine-FitzGerald 

To Dr. Edward A. Tracey 

Departed Days 

A River Dream 

Winter 

When Comes Regret 

To Mary . 



The Reconciliation, 65 



66 
66 
70 
76 
77 
77 
78 
79 



STAR GAZING 



DEDICATIOX. 



This is the age of the interpretive artist. Creative 
talent seems to be in abeyance, and it is in accordance 
with the eternal fitness of things that there should be 
a temporary lull in original effort; humanity is too busy 
just now assimilating what it already possesses in art 
to need new stimulant. It is the age, par excellence, 
of the interpreter. The interpretation of the works of 
the great music masters, and especially pianoforte 
music, brings out a score of new names annually. 
Chopin, the most ethereal and elusive of all the masters, 
is appreciated now, thanks to De Pachmann, Gab- 
rilowitsch and others as he never before was ap- 
preciated. In the domain of the drama we have a 
parallel state of art. Fifty years ago where there was 
one able actor we have now at least a score, and the 
spirit of Shakespeare is no doubt well satisfied for the 
way his extraordinary legacies are being so universally 
unfolded in the beginning of this the twentieth century. 
With v;hat a torrent of Shakespearean eloquence has 
Boston been flooded during the season just closing! 
Mantell, Mansfield, Viola Allen, NoveH, Sothern, Mar- 
lowe, Bernhardt, and last and youngest, but by no 
means least, Thais Lawton. I will venture to predict 
that this young woman, if she chooses to continue in 
the art she so finel\' illustrates, will occupy as high a 
plane of dramatic excellence as any of the above named 
eminent artists, if not higher. It is seldom such genius, 
such personal beauty, such winning personality are 
luiited in one individual. In sincere admiration of Miss 
Lawton's vivid portrayal of many phases of human 
nature, and particularly Shakespearean charactery, I 
dedicate to her this unworthy volume of verses. 

Boston, April 4, 1907. A. J. M. 



STAR GAZING 



PREFACE. 



The contents of this vohime were composed for the 
amusement and pastime of one person — myself. I pub- 
lish the book for the satisfaction of one person — my- 
self. I am entirely indifferent as to whether this pub- 
lication will meet public approval or any kind of notice 
whatsoever. A people that keeps bulldogs and pugi- 
lists in luxurious affluence and has on its national 
escutcheon the blot of having let its supreme poet die 
in want and disgrace is not a people to appeal to in a 
poetical way. 

I shall have but a limited number of copies published 
and will make the price of each book almost prohibitive. 
Should any person be so foolish as to desire a copy I 
will send one — upon receipt of price! 

Poetry, to be poetry, must possess one or all of the 
following attributes: 

Music 

Imagery 

Mystery 

Spirituality 

Passion 

The first three qualities are exemplified to a marvel- 
ous degree by the poems of the poet alluded to above — - 
the unfortunate Edgar Allen Poe. The next, spirituality, 
is to be found, or rather, it is to be felt, in the writings 
of the late French poet, Paul Verlaine; and passion 
in the powerful works of liyron and Sappho. 

Therefore in view of these facts I would never think 
of assuming authorship, with the endless vexatious 
troubles connected therewith, were I not confident my 
writings possess one or more of the above poetical qual- 
ifications. I will go farther: Even if absolutely con- 
vmced my compositions embody all the essentials of 
poetry I would not bother with having them in book 



STAR GAZING 7 

form did I not feel, however erroneously, that they con- 
tain one other important requisite, originality; the 
which did I believe myself lacking I would never publish 
a line, no matter how spiritual, musical, mystical, im- 
aginative and passionate my poetry might prove to be. 
It would be an easy matter to smear my pages over 
with Greek, Latin, or Sanscrit, in the manner of Swin- 
burne and others; but I think one original thought 
rightiv expressed is worth more than a volume of 
erudite display. 

A. J. MacDonald, 

37 West Newton Street. 

Boston, ]\Tass., April 3. 1907. 



PRELUDE. 

I would not die and leave no trace behind, 

No evergreen memorial of my mind, 

No offspring of m,y heart where thousands be, 

Unform'd, yet felt, a heaving progeny — 

Some thought that \\ hen I perish may survive, 

And like the livid lightning, be alive! 

To leap, even as the instant currents dart 

From cloud to cloud, and light the burdened heart; 

That I may not, as billions gone before. 

Be blotted from all memory evermore. 

TIME AND AFTER TIME. 

Thou comest, Autumn, with the wind and rain 
And driven leaf, and disappearing wing. 

And once again I witness thy domain 

Of desolation, and the unheeded slain 
Of myriad life; the signless suffering 

Of hiveless swarms; thou bringest biting dooms 
To frail wing'd waifs: they had their shiny day! 
They flitted thro' the pleasant gleams and glooms 
Of aspen aisles: and lonesome later blooms 
In vermeil prime must speedily decay. 

Thou comest once again and I am here. 

A time-toss'd leaf, unbough'd by any wind 
Branch-clinging still, a solitary, sere, 
Tenacious mourner, weathering the year; 

And many a comrade have I seen consign'd 

To silent clay, and many a hopeful eye 
Wax dim and dying; Yna.ny a gentle breast 

Breathe "faint farewells" to sobbing mourners by. 

Wax conscious of its dissolution nigh, 

Wax wan and still: and beings newlv blest 



lO STAR GAZING 

With sweet prospective, unanimity — 

Lost in each other, each the essential one, 
Such one that time nor yet eternity 
Hath paralleled, as part the branch and tree 
By blasting bolt, I've seen one chilled, undone, 

The other hurried to the darksome tomb; — [ 

How fortunate the wild, insentient being 

Unboding in the pathless forest gloom. 

That sees no shadow ere its season loom. 
That dies one death, nor dissolution fleeing. 

But hapless man! not only doomed to die, 

But doomed to live anticipating doom; 
That shadowy never absent from thine eye. 
Makes pleasure as the perfume passing by 

On stayless winds: or as thy fleeting bloom. 

Desolate season. Season of vermeil mourning, 

Of dawn-like distances, of glorious glens. 
Of plumed pilgrims, taking timely warning, 
Departing swiftly, all thy splendor scorning. 
Of brightening woods, whose sapient denizens 

Conceive too well thy passing pageantry, 
Thy brief magnificence, thy dangeroj.is days, 

And trust them not, but questing ceaselessly, 

Survive instinctless multitudes, that see 
No hour beyond, until their little blaze 

Of hfe dims into darkness evermore. 

So human mvriads, countless as thy leaves, 
Fade from tlie earth, like foam-globes from the shore, 
That briefly laugh and weep and all is o'er 

Save the mute memory that the stone receives, 

And utterless anguish poignantly resigned 

O'er the vmanswcring comrade who will never 



STAR GAZING II 

Speak once again, save in thy wailing wind, 
Season of mournful utterance. Moaning mind 
Take solace in the thought that not forever 

Must drag thy course of uncompanioned years, 
Or weep for aye by unresponding tombs; 
Thou, too, wilt be the cause of torrent tears, 

And in the chamber of besetting fears 

Thy fires shall vanish, as thy sodden blooms. 

Death contemplating season! sighing hours 
J\lust come to every heart, and bitter rains 

Still fall and chill the heart of tenderest flow'rs; 

But sadder than thy sigh in barren bowers, 
And wilder than thine anthem that refrains 

By infant mounds, o'er waiting sepulchres. 
The blast of human anguish; bitter strife 
Where should be peace and bounty; thin white hairs 
And withered frame repulseth; woe is theirs 
Found friendless in the autumn of their life; 

So myriads: did they never in their prime 
Stand in thy faded fields or lightening wood. 

And see far-sighted creatures briskly climb, 

Or sapient beings burrow in the grime 

Foregathering then? If briefly thus they stood 

And moments mused, how light would be the years 
Which crush them now to imm^emorial'd mounds! 
Ah, vain regrets! and chief among their fears 
Thy merciless successor! But their, tears 

Will soon be flowless; pulse that feebly bounds 

Must soon be stilled; as thy ungarnering lives 

Flit aimless hither, thither, sink and perish. 
How blithe thy dormouse' thou hast countless hives 
Of bodeless beings; and thy squirrel thrives 
The biting season thro'; these wisely cherish 



12 STAR GAZING 

Life's once given gift, as knowing when they die 

They perish evermore, and wdiile they may 
Foregather gladly. Ye so vaunted, high. 
Of backward glance and future piercing eve 
Which serves ye only in the sated day, 

Befriends ye only in the glutted hour; 

Ye will not hear the Winter howling drear, 
Too chained to sloth, too charmed in pleasure's bower 
To heed ; and when the senile shadows lower 

Bewail ye, and let fall the bitter tear 

And helpless sink. And ye of moiling ways, 
Of fungus care that grew upon your brow 
If but brief moments basked ye in the rays 
Which recreate, ye'd have delayed long days, 
Nor joyless days, the stoiie that's lettered now: 

Yet vain regrets! how like thy listless leaves, 

Most sombre season! fluttering round the dead; 
For all the saddening lessons he receives 
Man learns too late; his darkening spirit grieves 
O'er moments wasted and o'er chances fled, 

And perishes thrice pang'd. Thou find'st the bee 
Serenely hiv'd; thv woodland creature climbs 

From Desolation to its chamber'd tree 

Or deeply delveth, and thy songsters flee 

From blasts that know no ruth to aryan climes, 

To snowless shores. High mortal! were it not 
Thy destiny (beast, bird, are yet the same 

From Autumns immemorial, and the grot, 

The hollow trunk their unrepining lot) 

Thou mightest thus be happy, but the flame 

Which lights thy being ever drives thee on 
In restless aspirations; ages hence 



STAR GAZING I3 

Unfleeing pleasure or oblivion 
Shall be thy portion: countless days must dawn 
And empires of unknown magnificence 

Shall sink ere then; and future forests vast 

And spaceless plains of cities centuries seated, 
Be swept to deserts. Autumn, thou that hast 
Seen man's commencement, shalt behold him cast 
Into oblivion? as thy leaves are treated 

So thus humanity! Unnumbered tombs 

With all their unavailing memories, 
Be reared and razed; the shaft that proudly looms 
The humblest stone decay as scattered blooms 

And fanes that fearful consciences appease 

And institutes greed-granted to allay 

The rising wrath, and palisades and towers 
Safeguarding mammon'd despots 'til their day 
Of dark departure, these shall pass away. 
jMust vanish. Autumn, as thy final flowers 

And pathway leaves; thy broad unmantled moon. 

Silvering cemeteries, shall behold 
In after Autumns not one lettered stone 
She glamors now, sad goal of many a moan 

And tear, vain as thy flow'rets that unfold 

On frosted winds. Thy insects chill and die. 

Thy flow'rets fade ; thv wild winds hither thither 
The restless leaves, thy silent clouds roll by. 
And mankind marches — to what destiny? 

And far creations roll, O Autumn, whither 

In fearful sweeping? Yon ethereal sea. 

Bright islanded, which was ere time began — 

There blighted planets sink, vast mystery, ' 

But mankind marches to eternity. 
All else to chaos: massv star and sun 



14 STAR GAZING 

Forever vanish. Mortal! sigh no more 

Nor deem of lasting darkness; far away, 
Far over space, beyond remotest lore. 
And fancied suns, there lies a sheltered shore, 
A smiling beach, and everlasting day: 

Where severed hearts and waiting ones have met; 

Where every moment hath a raptured meeting; 
Ah, sigh no more, nor let thine eyes be wet,. 
There troubled asking, never stilled regret 

Subside and vanish, as thy silent fleeting, 

Utterless Autumn! Seasons come and go. 

And vernal voices warble wild and sweet; 
Mild Summer comes and richer blossoms blow. 
Autumnal winds come sighing soft and low. 
And mankind hasten to their blest retreat. 

Thro' every season. Climes of the unsighing. 
Of gliding dreams of sylphs of snowy wing: 
Far over space, all mortal thought outlying — 
Why starry yearning, why the inward crying 
For far felicity? The wild birds sing 

A rapturous monody and die forever; 

The rivers babble; Ocean's bitter leaven 
Imparts its pean to the sounds which never 
vSubside on earth, rejoicing on forever, 

But mankind weep, inheritors of heaven! 

Transcendent destiny! Lament no more, 

Nor peer at darkness with thine eyelids steeping; 

That fervent yearning every mortal bore; 

That far inclining, from thy spirit's core, 

Should waken thee from out thy secret weeping. 

What means thy sadness evil paths pursuing? 
The sharp remorse why hold in secret dread? 



STAR GAZING 15 

What means thy starry asking, planet viewing? 
Why sentient Hfe, and death, and sense te doing, 
And wherefore <ieathlcss cUnging to the dead? 

Transcendant destiny! Undying being, 

Why ever mournful? give to wistful dreaming, 
Upturn to silent planets, swiftly fleeing, 
And look beyond thine utmost aided seeing. 
To everlasting birthrights brightly beaming. 

SONG TO MARY. 

We must go our various ways, 

We that were as one. 
Live and die divided days. 

Our delusion done. 

Should we pass each other by 

Show that we forget, 
And save the sigh, — and save the sigh, — 

As we had never met. 

Let us hasten! let us linger 

Not all ties to sever, 
Hide that sign upon thy finger! 

We will part forever. 

LONG TIME AGO. 

How long since I inhaled this balmy air. 
How long since I have heard thy rushy flow 
Remember'd river! I was happy here 
Long time ago. 

How oft upon thy banks I sat and listen'd 
To the sweet, mystic cadence of thy flow, 
Thou art the same, and as thy waters glisten'd 
Long time ago! 



l6 STAR GAZING 

My many comrades in those happy hours 
With whom I stray'd, unfetter 'd as thy flow, 
Who drank of thee and cidl'd thy islet flow'rs 
Long; time ago, 

Where are they now? as leaves that waft away 
We know not where, and some I would not know, 
And some were as the flow'rets of a day 
Long- time ago! 

Thou art the same, but I am worn and weary; 
How comradeless, and spiritless, and slow 
From he who splasht thy waters, bright and cheery, 
Long time ago! 

LONDON. 

I visited a city far away 

Across the sea toward the rising sun, 
The home of pride and grandeur and decay 
And bloody footed misery, and display 

Of vaimted spoils from feeblest nations won. 

London, Eng , August i, 1905. 

MODERN CHIVALRY. 

Respectfully dedicated to President Roosevelt and Governor Bell, 
of Vermont. 

The day of chivalry is done. 
Lamented Burke; and past and gone 
The spirit of the Word of One 

"Love one another!" 
For Justice now would have the son 

Behead his mother! 

Even he who stands, m brave relief. 
The nation's evanescent chief. 



STAR GAZING 1 7 

This gallant man! whom rumor hath 

So finely human, 
Sent to her bitter, sharaehil death 

A poor old woman. 

Our Httle Roosevelts, petty Bells, 

Inexorably set — which tells 

The meag-re soul (such strength is hell's 

In very truth) 
With whom no impulse e'er impels 

To heavenly ruth. 

The day of chivalry is gone, 

The day of mercy is to dawn: 

And hapless woman, you must shun 

Your father, brother: 
For Justice now will have the son 

Behead his mother! 
July 4, 1905. 

TO LEO THE XIII. 
I. 

Oh thou that like the last autumnal leaf 

Beholdeth all thy youth's companions lie 
Low in the loam — it is with awe and grief 

I contemplate thee, passing grandly by. 

So lofty and commanding, doom'd to die: 
What thought supreme from wisdom-giving years 

So numberful as thine, lives in thine eye? 
What grand assurance now this vale of tears 
Sinks from thee that thy soul will speed to other 
spheres? 



Great mortal, speak' as brother unto brother, 
Forego thy grandeiu- and my humble lot, 



l8 STAR GAZING 

xA.nd one brief moment let us deem each other 
As death-doom'd beings, mother earth begot; 
Methinks there is no darker, wilder thought, 

That mind must vanish — like the rainbow's beams — 
That consciousness must melt to utter naught, 

And soothing fancies be but foster'd dreams 

Which fade from deepening" thought like childhood's 
fairyi themes. 

3. 

Ah, what are we? perchance beneath some sea 
Lockt in some shell, within its inmate's maw. 

Ambitious atoms; immortality 

Instinctive seems, as life's initial law. 
Self preservation; mayhap planets draw 

Our vision upward, dowering us with yearning 
For griefiess climes, and filled with joy and awe 

We contemplate yon starland scenes, discerning 

In every radiant orb a happy beacon burning. 

4. 
Perchance we are dream-phantoms in the mind 

Of some still unawakened god, that when 
He rouseth him at matintide, mankind 

Will vanish like the morn-fog from the fen; 

And peradventure we are microbe-men 
In raindrop speeding to some central sphere 

To germinate to monsters; or, again. 
Be re-resolved to vapor year to year, 
Century to century — perhaps trickle in a tear. 

5- 

Yet, yet, is Hope! that like a desert flow'r 

Enchants the w^aste, sole comforter from heaven, 

That comest ever in the sombre hour, 
Sublimest blessing unto mortals given; 
When hearts are numb'd with fear, and horror-riven, 



STAR GAZING 19 

The soul shrinks back from all-engulfing night 

Then hoverest thou! e'en Death himself is driven 
Back to his charnal cavern in affright 
At one so starry-fair — unseen of mortal sight. 

6. 

Like a beholder from a lofty height 

Surveying armies passing swiftly by, 
Not one returning ever from the light, 

Which none may flee from and where all must die, 
Thus gazeth thou, and moisten'd is thine eye, 
Surviving comrades, kith and kin pass'd on, 

No youth-made friend, no boon companion nigh 
To whisper solace: every soul is gone 
Whose comradeship made sweet thy life's resplendent 
dawn. 



Companion of the shrouded century 

It saw with thee unnumber'd human swarms 
Come and depart; time and eternity 

Contend for thee, grandest of living forms. 

Yon utmost climes await thee, angel arms 
W^ill bear thee, rapture-laden, to the blest; 

And heaven will joy that henceforth from the storms 
And troub'lous tides of time thou shalt have rest, 
Tho' earth will sorely grieve to be thus dispossess'd. 

8. 

Is there a mortal hopeless and resign'd 

To no hereafter home? Futurity! 
What thought stupendous hast thou unconfin'd 

From human hearts! and yearning harmony. 

And vistas dreadful, secret rhapsody, 
And golden realms whose gateway is the tomb; 

And be it fable, be it fantasy, 



20 STAR GAZING 



More blest is faith than doubter's dismal gloom 

Who shuns all blissful beams and hugs oblivion doom. 



And is humanity's long dream dispelling, 

And heaven become a mute or blushful theme? 
None have return'd! the rumor of a dwelling 

Beyond yon realms remotest planets' gleam 

Is unconfirm'd; yet never can I deem, 
I never can conclude, that man is cast 

In with the things that perish like a dream ; 
And thou art wholly steadfast to the last, 
Thou of the subtle soul and understanding vast! 

lO. 

From mortal multitudes thou dost survive 

Immortal; lo! Death pauses, ill at ease. 
Half deeming it is vain with thee to strive, 

Surviving epochs, empires, dynasties; 

Thine heart must be, of far back memories 
The pensive home; yet smiling and serene 

And confident as one who, rapturous, sees 
Within his grasp things that have ever been 
Deep in his ardent soul — eternal laurels green. 

II. 

This valley mournful, man's ephemeral home, 
For thee no suited habitation; where — 

Beyond the realms remotest comets roam. 

Where peopl'd plains ring rapture — it is there! 

E'en as a beam which stayeth when the star 
Begetting it did perish long ago. 

Thy spirit shall befriend us from afar. 
Misgiving and despondency o'erthrow, 
And put to flight misfaith tliat hounds us here below, 



STAR GAZING 21 



THE HEAVENLY VISITANT. 



Prelude i. 

As from a dream thou wert, and momently 

Thou didst remain, dissolving as a dream; 

Departing as a wish that cannot be; 

And startled by the silence and the gloom 

Heavily fallen upon me I awoke, 

As from sweet sleep, to find thee but a theme. 

As from a dream thou wert, but ah! the tomb 

Can tell if thou wast but a fantasy, 

The sable casket and the pallid cloak: 

As from a dream thou wert, but now thou art 

Even as a dream — a silence that's heavy on my heart. 

Prelude 2. 

She came to me not in her usual bloom, 

White-rob'd, a spectral aspect, and her glance 
Of lustrous wildness lum'd a countenance 

Death-hu'd, as from the tomb. 

I shudder'd, fearing; in the silent gloom 
I saw her well, her stealthiness of glance, 
Her ashy, smileless lips, her countenance 

Not in its wonted bloom. 

THE HEAVENLY VISITANT. 

Dedicated to the Memory of Florence Warner. 
Born 1881 — died 1903. 

Bright being! thy spirit was ever to me 

As waters to travelers worn, 
A river refreshing, a shady tree, 
A carolling bird and sweet sleeping, to be 

Arous'd to a beautiful morn. 



22 STAR GAZING 

A rainbow unforming, a spirituelle dream ^ 

Sad-haunting the heart thro' the day, 
But yet ere the warmth of the midday gleam 
Thy spirit, as frail as the infant beam 

Of a young star, faded awa}-. 

Yet, yet will the poignant hour obtrude, 

Tho' my bosom hath long been riven; 
With her earth were never a solitude, 
Whose absence so wistful, whose presence renew'd 

In my heart the repose of heaven. 

And I thought — if these arms could but clasp her again ; 

Embrace her but once, as of yore; 
Here, now, where I flee from the troubles of men, 
Ah! clasp her once more in this memoried glen — 

I'd deem myself blest evermore. 

And the night with her voices, so seldom of mirth. 

Far murmur'd, with answering sound; 
And a leaf between moments fell gently to earth. 
As a mortal, however his greatness or worth 

Must descend — he must fall to the ground! 

And the night breezes cadenc'd a melody 

That poets of sound never find; 
And methought that a warning was whispered to me, 
But I said — 'tis a moan from humanity, 

Whose sighings replenish the wind. 

And I answered the winds, but my song was unheard, 
For its sound and its sense were a part 

Of a sorrow too sacred for audible word; 

And the feather-clad dreamers above were unstirr'd. 
For the music remained in my heart: 

She dwells with Blight, and Darkness round her keeps 
Unceasing vigil; Silence and Decay 



STAR GAZING 23 

Her changeless sentinels, and Dampness steeps 
The rayless room where she was laid awa.yi. 

She dwells with Darkness — when the world is leaping 

To ardent beams, and blithe is every bough; 
And closer, closer to her heart are creeping 

The horrors of the grave; and on her brow 
The ebon dews drip from the coffin-lid, 

And thro' her lily limbs is stony chill — 
Ah, to my soul lost, lost — forever hid 

That comrade sweet, irrevocably still. 



I will not deem thee thus, departed being; 

But dream of thee in some undream'd retreat. 
Some jovful realm, remote from fancy's seeing, 
Thv spirit perfect and thy youth unfleeing 

Forever, but thy voice is not more sweet. 

I watch the stars and deem of thee again, 

And is thy spirit, then, so far away? 
Remote from every sense and subtler ken 
Evolving now, faint deem'd of living men? 
The Sun must die, but thou shalt live for aye! 

There was a rumor and it gather'd meaning 

From guarded whisper and repining glance; 
And I beheld Decline; I saw thee leaning 
To pallid languor: dreadful waste was' gleaning 
The life drops from thy gentle countenance. 

Ah vain regrets! and thou hast pass'd away 

In vernal prime with loveHness replete; 
Thou dwellest now in everlasting day. 



24 STAR GAZING 



With youth iinfleeting and thy glance for aye 
All lovely, but thy smile is not more sweet. 



Methought that I would never more behold her, 

And I was pale with dread, 
And trembl'd lest again I'd ne'er enfold her; 
And weeping ones that ever had extoU'd her, 

Came, faltering she was dead. 

And I perceived, as stepping- from a dream, 

A phantom form, and near it 
Wax'd plainly, as the moon's unclouding gleam; 
And that pale thing, pierc'd by a starry beam. 

Was likeness to her spirit, — 

Came toward me, like a snowy plum-ed bird, 

A wing-ed miracle, 
Soar'd by me, and my conscious marrow stirr'd! 
And from its smileless lips methought I heard 

A passionate farewell. 

And lo, a silent chamber I discover'd, 

Cold to my finger tips, 
I knelt me, where the paly moonbeams hover'd, 
Pil'd flowers were there, a casket I uncover'd 

And kiss'd her ashy lips! 



I think of the Land of Eternity, 
Of the climes of unfading bloom; 

Of the shores that lie over the waterless sea. 

Where the faces of people Hke morning be. 

And their eyes' starry lemes have a radiancy 
Never dimm'd by the thought of the tomb. 



STAR GAZING 

Ah, who does not grieve o'er the voicelessness 

Of comrades eternally flown? 
Companions who never return to confess 
Of their wonderful worlds and their happiness ; 
Eternally silent! repining, we guess 
And we gaze, but no token or tone. 

I sigh for those climes, and my spirit is fraught 
With the scenes o'er the waterless sea, 

And the happy wind'd people who notice us not; 

But ah! like a charnel-blown poison, is wrought 

With the roses of heavenly fancies, the thought 
That eternity never may be! 

But these wild meditations were hush'd by despair, 

And the highest of hopes was o'erthrown ; 
Ah, man ! thou hast many a burden to bear, 
But black as the evils to which thou art heir, 
The blight of Unfaith is alone. 

But lo! at the edge of the woodland a gleam. 

Where the leaves and the branches were riven, 
Like a fragment of sky, or a glimpse of a stream, 
Or a column that stands in the path of a beam. 
Or a cloud that has fallen from heaven. 

And, startled, I roused me ; my breathing was stilled 

By the birth of a sudden fear; 
And I gazed on that aperture suddenly filled. 
Where a moment before lay the pasturage, tilled, 

'Neath the moon, unmistakably clear. 

And I look'd for that opening ever, when lo! 

I saw it wax plain as before; 
And I saw the red furrowing, mantled in glow; 
But moving upon me — I started! the flow 

Of my veins for a moment was o'er. 



25 



2 6 STAR GAZING 

The Vision drew onward; its silv'ryness 

Enluster'd the branches around; 
And its footfalls were soundless, but startled me less 
Than the tips of its pinions, which trail'd with its dress 

But displaced not a leaf on the ground. 

And a cold oozing dew, which fell not from the leaves, 

Nor was brush'd from the grass by my hand, 
Embeaded my brow; and the dying conceives 
Of that moisture, more chill than the drips from the 
eaves 
When the snow-mantle melts from the land. 

And pausing beside me, I look'd in the face 
Of the Form which had suddenly near'd; 

And I knew that bright aspect! none other's the grace, 

Which eternity's eons can never efface 
From my bosom, indeliblv sear'd. 

And my heart for a moment was stil'd in distress. 

Like a soul that its warning receives; 
Rut she lookt in my features with tenderness, 
And her starry-ray'd hair and her radiant dress 

Fell o'er me like shadow's of leaves. 

And Ijending full o'er me, her loveliness 

Inclined like a blossomy bow; 
And a perfume like lilies was breath'd in my face, 
As a snowy-white hand, like a moonbeam's caress, 

Strange-jewell'd, was placed on my brow. 

That magical presence, that beauty so oft 
My repose from the world and its blights; 

And those accents the same, but more heavenly soft! 

As she whispered. "I WATT THEE!" and pointed aloft 
To the empire of numberless lights. 

And her lustre waxed dim, yet she fled not away; 
And the sward and the branches swam round; 



STAR GAZING 27 

And I motioned to clasp her, but frail was the clay 
Round my spirit that darken'd as darkens the day, 
And I sank like a clod to the ground. 

PRELUDE. 

That fadeless dream — it was too bright to be. 

Too far beyond, a vain expectancy; 

It came to me at moments like a beam 

On dark and restless waves, that splendid dream. 

It hover'd round, daybrooding and by night, 

Awake, asleep, around me like a light, 

A bright belief, too beautiful to be 

This side the tomb — outside of phantasy. 

THE GRA\'EYARD WINDS. 

The midnight winds were rocking 
Young birds in their braided bed; 
The herded stars were walking 

Where the milky pathway led; 
When I heard an old ghost talking 

To a young shade, newly dead, • 

As the graveyard winds sang low, 
Ethereally sweet 

What were the phantoms saying. 

The shadows of the dead, 
When the midnight winds were swaying 

The infant birds in bed. 
When the stayless stars were straying 

Where the milky path was spread. 
As the graveyard winds sang low, 
Ethereally sweet? 

I heard the plaintive asking 
i\nd answerino- of the dead, 



28 STAR GAZING 

When the midnight birds were basking 

In starbeams round their bed, 
Save where thick leaves were masking 
The fledghngs yet unfled, 
And the bahnier winds sang round 
Their unl)etray"d retreat. 

And I heard the younger crying, 

That fair shade of the dead, 
When the midnight winds were sighing 

O'er many a silent bed; 
And I thought — some lov'd one dying, 

Some spirit all but sped; 
And the graveyard winds sang low, 
Compassionately sweet. 

From a tomb's moonlit inscription 

Some infant names I read; 
Pathetic the description 

Of those young flow'rets fled; 
And I thought — What gloom Egyptian 

Enshrouds the infant dead: 
And the graveyard winds sang low, 
Compassionately sweet. 

Through thickets, dark recesses. 
Where moonbeams none were shed, 

New shades in snowy tresses 
By guiding ghosts were led; 

And wild their shadowy tresses 
Upon the winds were spread: 

The cemetery winds. 

Unutterably sweet. 

I watcht with breathing bated. 
That fair young spirit, sped. 

As bv the tomb she waited 
The loved one, vet unfled; 



STAR GAZING 29 

And I thought — Perchance were mated 

The Hving and the dead; 
And the homeless winds sang low, 
Disconsolately sweet. 

She was a ghost of beauty, 

Nor seem'd she wholly dead; 
And of her featur'd loveliness, 

The bloom alone had fled; 
(Continuing its duty 

Upon some flow'ry bed, 
That odors evening winds, 
Unutterably sweet). 

I saw her mild eyes gleaming. 

Methought did softly weep; 
And the paly flood was streaming 

Where she did vigil keep; 
When lo! athwart the beaming, 

I saw an infant creep — 
And the graveyard winds sang low, 
Compassionatelv sweet. 

METHINKS IT WAS A VISION PASS'D ME BY. 

Methinks it was a vision passed me by, 
A gliding dream and brightly garmented; 

And but one instant gleamed her sylphan eye, 
And but one moment on her cheek I fed, 
Live vermeil-vapor'd evening, softlv red. 

And delicately flush'd in fleeting dye. 
Methinks it was a vision, for a brightness 

Went with her, and a breath of lilies blent 
With every snowy rustle; and her lightness 

Was as a wafted blossom as she went. 
Ah! in no wakeful, vista'd memory, 

But doth remain some twilight, softly red. 
Some ardent hour, like haunting harmonv. 



3° STAR GAZING 

Or tender tune — some vision fleeting by, 

Some gliding dream, and brightly garmented 

SONNET TO HELEN. 

Thy name is low as is the fallen leaf 

In pathway slim'd, and thy white fame hath fled; 
And to my heart unutterable grief 
Has come, the dream, the radiance, the brief 

Transcendent seeming passionless and dead, 
Ah fatal chance! ah merciless event! 

Oh! that I might have perisht never knowing 
Thee but as thou didst seem ; the ornament 

Is shatter'd, the flower that yesterday was blowing 
Hath wilted, and my soul is stricken through, 

And passionate affection is in vain; 
Yet thy strange spell and spirit's charm which drew 

My helpless soul to thee would draw me once again. 

MARGARITE. 

.Sweet Margarite! it is no transient spell 
Thou weavest round, for in thy spirit lies 

A meshing power beyond my words to tell; 
Not wholly in the marvels of thine eyes, 
Nor altogether in the quivering dies 

That faintly vermeil, 'neath their lustre dwell. 

As when a fragrant wafture, coming whence 
We cannot tell, and tho' we strive to find 

The essence rare, delicious to the sense. 

(Sonie lowly weed perchance in verdure dense. 
That gives unseen its treasure to the wind). 
Seeking in vain the vale and many a knoll — 
E'en so the source of that sweet, strange control — 

Surpassing music — gifted eloquence — 
Sweet Margarite! is hidden in thy soul. 
October, 1904. 



STAR GAZING 3 I 

TO SWINBURNE. 

Poet! I read thy verses but to weep, 

Thy music leaves pie \Yith a heavy heart 

That one so gifted and renown'd should steep 
His gifts in vileness, degradate his art; 

Whose images insidious to the mind 

By phrase lascivious-subtile — and refin'd. 

With bards of other days it could be so, 
Not justified art thou to tread their way, 

Their pages wholesome howsoev'r they flow 
Obscenely, 'twas the custom of the day: 

Thou art alone in thy harmonious dirt; 

To Byron's honest coarseness how inert! 

Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, blest are ye! 

And all your brothers of the heavenly art; 
No damning thought, no hideous imagery 

In your sweet language! poisoning the heart. 
All purity within your fancies dwells, 
Like azure streams and heaven-reflecting wells. 

Poet, 'twere well that thou shouldst pause before 

Departing on the all-unconipass'd sea; 
Thy thoughts are broadcast as on stream and shore 

The hectic leaves of Autumn! and to thee 
It may have vasty import, and the lot 
Of humankind that thou should heed this thought: 

As when the gardener on mid-autumn day 

Raketli the dead leaves ever to a pile 
And gives the torch, so unto thee I say. 

Perverted bard, that thou shouldst reconcile 
Thy soul with Purity; quest far and nigh 
Thy leprous driftings, heaping vast and high 



32 STAR GAZING 

And give the torch! so may thy spirit speed 
Unfearful o'er the vastness, gladly gliding; 
So mayst thou say that thou hast done a deed, 
Outblotting all; departing poet, head! 

So thou may'st dwell where beauty is abiding, 
Nantasket, Mass., June, 1906. 

BYRON. 

From all the illumining beings that old Earth 
Hath usher'd into light and ta'en again 

Into her chambers 

Devoid of dreams, 

I turn to thee, 

Transcendent spirit! 

I turn to thee in wonderment and joy, 
And admiration and complacency, 

That I, even I, 

However remote, 

Am kin to thee. 

That thou wert human, 

Undying mind! 

I think of thee, misunderstood in life. 
And in this warmthless time, neglected now. 
So brilliantly endow'd. 
So generous hearted. 
Of transient day. 
And sorrow, wild and sweet. 
As creeping from thy page, 
Swells over me. 

Thine is the charm like unto evening, 
Like unto morning, and thou art akin 

To darkness. 

And flamy dawns; 

Matchless as morning! 

Somber as sunset! 



STAR GAZING ;^;^ 

Ah, in my youth how deathless was thy spell! 
And in my memory lingers none like thee; 

And brooding on thee., youth, 

There wells within me 

Silent regret. 

CHATTERTON. 

Strange mind that liveth in the wondrous tome 

Of myriad libraries through learn-ed lands; 

In cottages and castles, and art found 

In palaces that move along the deep. 

To massy mansions where magnificence 

Dwells like the dawn, thou hast the entry now. 

And shinest in the firmament of fame 

The youngest wonder; and thy name is linkt 

With deathless grief and passionate regret. 

Alas! for what was daily thrown to dogs. 

Thy matchless mind was blotted from the earth. 

Thy name hath pass'd to the sweet range of sound, 

A tone to waken sorrow: still a child. 

Thou turndst from the heartless multitude 

To seek thy one consoling friend — the grave. 

KEATS. 

Young master mind! that utter'd on life's last 

Ebbtide strange newton'd haunting harmonies, 
Then perish'd, like a sea flower fading fast. 

Torn from the garden of its native seas: 
Thy memory glows like star-abandoned beams, 

(Of shattered planet, perish'd eons agone) 
Not least among the splendors and the gleams 
That steadfast be, and master tonal dreams 

And deathless voices, speaking ever on. 
What carest now for earth's belated fame? 

Thou, marvelous youth! that maketh sages wonder. 
And when the iris'd morn's or evenintj breeze 



34 STAR GAZING 

Lament around my path, they seem the same 

Self sighs as thine, young- master! and I ponder 
Which wildwood strains are thine in bird-sung sym- 
phonies. 

POE. 

Even as a somber cloud at evening, 

Half splendid in the sunset, was that mind. 

As when we walk in moonlit cemetery 

Wreathe-chisl'd stone pass by and lowly slab. 

Pass by half heedlessly, to pause beside 

Some towering tomb, so thus that giant genius. 

TO THE SPIRIT OF CHOPIN. 

With awe I hear the mighty masters speak, 
As gods their voices, speaking for all time, 

And in those tones the haughty soul is meek, 

The harrass'd heart is lifted up to seek 
In earthless regions solaces sublime! 

Unequal'd master! I have lov'd thee long. 
In infant years I knew thee and thou art 
E'en as a comrade; dear to me thy song. 
Thou speakest to a fast-augmenting throng 
Of eager souls, and speakest to the heart. 

If 'twas decreed that from the dead could wake 
One gifted soul and I the powV possess'd. 

What choice of sleeping genius would I make? 

Ah thine, Chopin! would be the hand I'd take 
And hail thee as the noblest and the best. 

Thou speakest as none other spirits speak; 

Of all the Masters, living and departed. 
Thou art alone, unparallel'd, unique; 
Tliv voice rings truest, saddest and most meek. 

As if the heart that sung, sung broken-hearted! 



STAR GAZING 35 

Alas, great spirit, thou art all unknown, 

To earth's untutor'd millions but a din; 
And most who heed — for pedantry alone, 
And the great mass of men as deaf as stone 
And live and die as thou hast never been! 

IMPROMPTU TO BURNS. 

Immortal Master! youthful and alone 

Thou standest; and the century here 

Yet find'st thy voice the voice of all humanity. 

Thy many gifted brothers 

Compel the minds of many or of few: 

Speak to a sect or cult: 

Thou hast for audience 

The earth and all it hath of living men. 

SHELLEY. 

Transcendent soul! why is it that thou wert 

Sent here so illy timed? oh, ages hence 
Thy proper day! humanity inert 

Dream'd not thy warmth, thy heartfelt eloquence, 
'Til, like the instant lightning rushing on 
From darkness unto darkness, thou wert gone! 

STAR GAZING. 

Poems to Thais. 

Prelude. 

That haunting charm, not in her accents sweet, 
Nor in the soft enticement of her glance, 

Nor heavy lustre tress, bright pleat on pleat, 
Nor raiment rich, nor gliding elegance. 

It was a trance, it was a reverie 

Of fervent dreams, as when into the rose 

The bee sinks silently, within her spell 



36 STAR GAZING 

My spirit languisht: as when melody 

Show'rs on the ear and wild enchantment grows 
And ardent wish. Thus dimly can I tell 
That clinging charm, more strange than opiate 
rhapsody. 

I SAW THEE GLANCING. 

I saw thee glancing, and a sweet reg'ard 

Methought was in the momentary gleam 

Of furtive lustre, like the passing beam 
That flecks the pale repining captive, barred 

From morning breezes and wing'd voices fleeing. 

Ah, gentle lady! deep into my being 
Thy loveliness hath pass'd, like the perfume 
That saturates the bosom of the bee 
That looks into the lily! and the home 

Of sleepless speculation is my heart, 
That hopes, despairs, exults alternately; 

I am. but one in myriads, for thou art 
E'en as a lovely stream which glides along 

Through concours'd fields, and draws a thousand 
eyes, 
A thousand admirations from the throng, 

And countless tender thoughts and secrets sighs. 

TO THAIS. 

When we shall meet there'll be no utter'd word. 

Our eyes will speak and pressure of the hand; 
Sweet, silent interchangings, long deferr'd. 

Of rapture, which we only understand. 
Ethereal being! lovely revelation! 

Long, long ago I met thee — in romance, 
Or far salon of masterly creation. 

Or in some vision of nocturnal trance. 
Sweet Thais! deem not this the ebullition 

Of one demented; every fervent heart 



STAR GAZING 37 

Seeks a true comrade ever, and recognition 
Of one so sought, if e'en a passing vision, 
Begets a wildness which will not depart 
For many a day. 

Thais, I deem thee far above the throng; 

Rare beauty, genius, magnetism thine; 
Sweet simulator! unto thee belong 

Unnumber'd hearts, and lowliest is mine. 

TO THAIS. 

There is a picture ever in my sight, 
Of passing phases; downcast meditation 

And pale repose that haunts me day and night, 

Solicitude, anxiety, affright, 

And still suspense and pacing perturbation. 

There is an image ever in my gaze. 

Of changing moods; indifference is there 
And cold regard; belittling hauteur stays 
One chilly instant; whether be the phase 
Disdain, hate, love, hope, fear, 'tis ever fair, 

Thais! thou art inseparably near, 

Forever in my vision; and I see 
No form of utmost beauty, and I hear 

No sound surpassing sweet, but memory thee, 

TO THAIS. 

Sweet lady! I have lookt into thy face, 
And it is fair — beyond my words to tell; 

Ingenuous with youth and gentle grace, 
Would I could see into thy soul as well! 

For I have found (alas it should be so!) 
That cruelty and falseness lie conceal'd 



38 STAR GAZING 

Beneath sweet masks — and reason will not know 
'Til burnt-out passion hath the truth reveal'd. 

If it could be — if beauty and sincerity 
Could be united' truth and loveliness; 

And wild, unlistening passion, of a verity 
Inflame not one, but mutually bless: 

The interchange of soul sincerity — 
If it could be. 

If we could find, if we could only see 
With outward charm a singleness of heart! 

It cannot be, alas! it cannot be, 

The beautiful and true are wide apart. 

The spell, the fancied worth, wild fervency, 
Mean misery. 

If it could be, if we would never waken 
To the wild truth, so piercing to the soul, 

So late perceiv'd, that we were all mistaken. 
And the dread bitterness, beyond control, 

Pass lightly from us, dying utterly — 
If it could be! 

Dear Thais, looking on you this I thought: 
Ambition, Intellect are written there 

In that deep brow — duplicity hath not 
Art's high attainments and the artist-air. 

TO THAIS. 

Oh I am very weary, I would fain 

Lie down to rest; to be a denizen 
Of some still world where pleasure and where pain 
Know no extremes, nor dreadful passions reign — 

To fall asleep and never wake again: 

To be at rest and dwell with quietness; 
And in a tranquil dream forever dwell; 



STAR GAZING 39 

And bid adieu to minor cadences; 
And say farewell to heart annoiyances, 
And to all earthly sorrows say farewell: 

For I am heavy laden, and to me 

Hath fallen a burden mournfully depressing, 

A crushing load, that thro' its mystery 

Of coming and remaining none may see, 
A grievous weight beyond my tongue's expressing. 

Hast thou a heart, sweet Thais? oh then hear! 

Hast thou a tender soul? Then I will plead, 
And let my supplication reach thine ear. 
And in the gloomy night when Thought and Fear 

Sit by thy sleepless couch, I pray thee, heed! 

Release me, Thais! from my soul I urge; 

I am the helpless leaf and thou the stream; 
And thro' thy power alone can I emerge 
Or sink forever. Oh I am on the verge 

Of dreadful madness — would 'twas all a dream! 

WHEN DAYS AND WEEKS AND MONTHS 
AND YEARS HAVE PASS'D. 

When days and weeks and months and years have 
pass'd. 
When forward shadows have been cast behind; 
When wild regard, that would forever last, 
Hath long declined; 

When lips that smile, when sweet immeshing glances 

Awake responses, fervent for a day; 
When husht regrets and undivin'd romances 
Have chill'd away; 

Then Thais — when those usual passions perish. 
Of transient glow, of easy, griefless wane, 



4° STAR GAZING 

Then Thais will my bosom vainly cherish 
What was in vain. 



TO THAIS. 

Dehghtful artiste! would I could reveal 
To you my admiration; I would fain 
Embrace you and impart the glow I feel 
In fervent pressure; or, if I might kneel, 
I would adore you! braving your disdain. 

Is it a crime, mesmeric one, for me 

To proffer lowliest homage? I behold you 

Ethereal, bright, a loveliness to see 

But ne'er attain, a being that will be 

Unswerving as the purposes that mould you. 

Thais, believe me, in your every part 
You reign unrivall'd; far away, beyond, 

Remote and unapproachable thou art — 

Yet, yet the bright ideal of my^ heart 

Long, long conceived — I see thee and despond. 

THINKING OF THAIS. 

What bleak saharas reach away from me! 

As the world's barren plains the heart is wide 
In sterile spaces; hath its desert sea 
Of vanisht griefs — cold isles of memory. 

Its stagnant pools where fitful dreams abide. 

I have one happiness, to dream of thee, 
I have one hope, but it is laid away 

Deep in my soul where never eye may see 

Or ear discern its vain temerity — 
Its dim pulsations baffling decay! 



STAR GAZING 4I 

The growing warmth, augmenting constancy, 
The sleepless thoughts that ne'er subside again, 

The glance exchangings, the felicity 

Of claspings sweet, entwining ardently. 
The all-in-all of each and parting then — 

It is the same, it hath been and will be, 

And every life unfolds the saddening lore, 
That all we sigh for, all we yearn to see, 
But glimmering dreams that vanish fitfully, 
And every dream but one remorse the more. 

Ah, Joy is very near to Misery, 

As in the hopeless dungeon may abide 
Sunlight and sadness, mirth — insanity, 
And rapt Despair sits by Felicity, 

And Happiness and Horror side by side. 

THINE EYES GLANCED HATE. 

Thine eyes glanced hate, and thro' my bosom swept 

A bitter chill; alas for me the hour 
That on my solitary spirit crept 

Thy all-resistless, all-compelling power; 

I am thy slave, and servilely I cower; 
I am cast down — full heavy is my heart. 

And in that glance what disillusions lower! 
And from the long-abiding dream I part 
That we are each for each, ideal as thou art! 

To be belov'd by beauty, to possess 

The trust of some sweet spirit, and to gaze 
Into true eyes of lustrous loveliness; 

To hear one voice whose richness ever stays 
Upon the ear in golden cadences, 

A spirit blest and who we ever bless, 
A consolation and a fervent theme, 

And in whose magic presence ills are less — 



42 STAR GAZING 

Fantastic fool! what wildness dost thou deem! 
Whoever dreams of such is hving in a dream. 

And yet — and yet — oh cease! renounce forever 

The hope of mutual souls; naught here can stay; 
The snowflake falleth in the fleeting river, 

There's bloom on Beauty's cheek but 'twill decay; 

Ambition fires the breast to fade away, 
And great resolve, so warm the night before, 

Departeth in the dawning of the day! 
And unanimity flees from the door 
Of tied affinities, romance and passion o'er. 

TO THAIS. 

Thou wert to me as roses fresh and new, 

And from that evening that I sat entranc'd 
B\- thy pale beauty on my spirit grew 
A restlessness, a yearning deep and true 

And passionate, by sleepless nights enhanc'd. 

Thais, looking in thy pallid face, 

I long'd to know thee, yearn'd to take thy hand 
And whisper my heart's wishes, and to place 

My soul, my destiny at thy command. 

It is the same! it is as I foretold: 

That passion perishes in its own pain, 
That love declineth ere a moment old. 
That warmest love is in a moment cold, 
That wild infatuation is in vain! 

I would not do by thee as thou hast done; 

Is it a crime to love, to show regard? 
Ah! he who loves is lov'd by every one 
Save the belov'd, whose eyes are ever on 

New conquests and as ready to discard. 



STAR GAZING 43 

Yet time heals all; and passion is at best 
A thankless gift; its fever I would shun 
If in my power. Ah where is peace and rest 
Save in the grave! The loveless are the blest: 
I would not do by thee as thou hast done! 

TO THAIS. 

Over thy features lightly come and go 

Gladness and grief, repose and animation, 
Shadow and shine and gloom and utter woe 
And exultation. 

How lightly canst thou laugh! and to my ears 

Thy gladness real; thine art will have it so; 
Ah woman's smile is easy, and her tears 
Of facile flow. 

Those transient ills, those joys — forever brief! — 

Pass lightly o'er thy spirit void of care; 
Ah, niay'st thou know but simulated grief 
Nor real despair! 

SONG TO THAIS. 

If thou and I should meet 

Ere many suns have set, 
And casually greet 
With smiles and glances sweet, 

We would be happy yet! 

If in our hearts could be 

The glow we once possess'd, 
That made me dream of thee, 
That made thee think of me, 

How then would we be blest! 

When far away I go 

Wilt thou regret thv course 



44 STAR GAZING 

Of scorn that chills me so; 
Ah, then the old time glow 
May move thee to remorse. 

Ah, 3-es if we should meet 

Ere wholly we forget, 
And casually greet 
With smiles and glances sweet 

We might be happy yet! 

TO THAIS. 

Gloating upon thy likeness I behold 

Beauty and strength, a combination rare 
In thy frail sex; Byronic in thy mold. 

Of finer fiber and of gentler air. 

Sweet Thais! lovely Grecian! I will bare 
My heart to thee — behold! 'tis wholly thine, 

And to my soul as spiritually fair 
As when, like cluster'd stars, thy beauties shine 
Full on bewildered souls — but none so lost as mine. 

The hour approaches and one thought impels, 

I'll hie me hence to feast mine ear and eye: 
Thy voice is sweet, and thro' my heart's lone cells 

Re-echoes ever, where 'twill never die. 

Thais, I love thee! would that thou wert nigh! 
How warmly would I clasp thee! how caress! 

Ah wild imagining! for such as I 
'Tis madness thus to dream, the happiness 
Of seeing thee afar is all I'll e'er possess. 

TO THE SPIRIT OF THE DAY. 

Oh thou that hast the concentrated greed 

Of all the segrated porcine clan. 
Whose every gulp makes myriad mortals bleed 

And helpless hearths the face of Famine scan. 



STAR GAZING 45 

I say to thee, the threat precedes the deed, 

And tho' thou hast the upright mould of man, 
]\Iost hke the beast forever in the trough, 
O'erspread the swill and snap thy fellows off 

And fatten while ye may; the time is short 
Until thou shalt be shrieking 'neath the knife; 

Yes! gorge thee yet in safety, and consort 
With suckling broods that look to thee for life, 

And mankind cringing and manhood amort 
Thy certain safeguard 'til the day of strife: 

For sages see afar a horrid pow'r 

And Mercy weeps that Fate has nam'd the hour. 

Gorge thou! who hath considered Famine keeping 
His deathwatch 'neath thy safe prosperity. 

Who hath considered famished women weeping 
O'er dying infants, smiling merc'lessly. 

I say to thee, when Anarchy is leaping, 

M'ay thirsting vengeance thus consider thee! 

And like the brute whose instinct lives in thee, 

Glut thou in thy exultant gluttony! 

What tongue can tell the floods of ceaseless tears. 
The vats of bloody sweat of humankind 

Since earth was cursed with thee and thy compeers! 
The taintless fortune, won with killing grind. 

The comfortable hearth, wTung from the years ; 
They vanish like the blooms in autumn's wind. 

The plagues combined could never equal thee, 

Exhaustless source of widening misery. 

The wolf, which feeds upon the perishing, 

The vulture, bolting putrid carrion. 
The serpent, which will gorge a living thing, 

The cat, w^iich every living thing must shun. 
The dog returning to its vomiting. 

The maggot stench-engendered in the sun. 



4-6 STAR GAZING 

Are nauseous-vile, but wholesonie unto thee, 
Spirit of greed and grasping perfidy! 

Mankind hath bended unto many kings. 
And Bonaparte and Caesar — Alexander, 

Who, tho' at moments harsh, inflicting stings, 
Was each a glorious, masterful commander, 

And well-belov'd, and time their praises sings, 
And for their day our destiny is grander 

And men, full flattered owned their sov'reignty. 

But faugh! to bend unto a thing like thee! 

Full eagerly thou flauntest in the ken 

Of men thy generous millions! and endow 

Alesht institutes that multitudes again 
Re-echo thy beneficence and vow 

Tliou art the most munificent of men, 
And voiceful beneficiaries bow 

To thee, the soul of magnanimity — 

To thee — the synonym of piety! 

In every age some mighty task confronts 

Some mightier mind: whose is the unheard name, 

Whose unknown form this moment, haply, mounts 
Slow upward into everlasting fame? 

The watchful fates that keepeth men's accounts 
Behold the task in every age the same. 

Mankind's emancipation; every hour 

Has manhood more and more in mammon's pow'r. 

Mammon! the meanest menace to mankind. 
Like an insidious tumor in its growth. 

Sapping vitality of heart and mind, 

And the pale victim long delayeth, loath 

To hazard his existence, but will find 
That he must suffer tenfold for the sloth 

Timidity engenders, and the knife 

Is the sole certaintv of saving life. 



STAR GAZING 47 

Shall mankind, meant and fashion'd from the first 

To be the peers of heavenly company, 
Consort with serpents slimy and accurst, 

And feebly bend to bestial tyranny? 
Shall we, a wholesome people, nobly nurs'd, 

And fear'd by despots, cringe in infamy? 
Shall men or beasts rule o'er us! Know the truth 
All monsters must be throttl'd in their youth! 



THEIR SUN HATH SET. 

Their sun hath set, the race of silent men, 

They go like leaves before the sweeping gust; - 
Their sun hath set, to never rise again. 
Their graves are lost in vale and gorge and glen. 
Unnumbered, and we tread their nameless dust. 

Departing people! to the silent past 

Ye journey now, and to oblivion's sea; 
And as your signal smoke fades on the blast, 
And as your campfires, emberless at last, 
And as your wild haunts vanish, vanish ye. 

The eagle, emblem of unfettered races, 

Is taking flight, and follows liberty; 
He sees his dusky brothers' saddened faces 
Departing from the long-memorial'd places. 

In quest of haunts where yet they may be free. 

Their sun hath set, the haughty race of men ; 

They go like leaves before the sweeping gust; 
Their sun hath set, to never rise again; 
Their graves will be in vale and gulch and glen. 

Unnumbered, and we'll tread their signless dust! 

June 28, 1904. 



48 STAR GAZING 



TO AN INDIAN GIRL. 

To me there is no other maiden 

In the universe of women 

Who can match with thee, my wild one! 

Lovelier than a radiant river 

Where a rainbow is embosom'd; 

And whenever be my musings 

Daytime thought or dream nocturnal 

Thou art ever like a picture 

Hovering from a splendid canvas 

Always central in the vision. 

Ah! there is no other likeness 

In the universe of beauty 

Which can match with thine, my sweet one! 

Thy soft eyes are like twin planets 

Peeping from an autumn forest 

Tinged in twilight and vermilion; 

And their glances are more tender 

Than the rainbow when it melteth; 

And thy mouth's miraculous curvings 

Hath one rival — 'tis a phantom 

Resident of streams and mirrors ; 

And thy laugh is like the breaking 

Of the wave upon the shingles 

Full of ripple and refreshment. 

Like a melody that's sprinkled 

From the branches in the morning 

Is the sweetness of thine accents. 

And thy breath is like a zephyr 

That hath lately talkt with lilies. 

No! there is no other maiden 

In the universe of beauty 

Who can match with thee, my wild one! 

Nor would I exchange thee, dark one. 

For the loveliest of Christians 

Or the handsomest of heathens! 



STAR GAZING 49 

THE THREE TIDES. 

When the tide of Ag^e sets in, 

With its foam in the whit'ning head 
And the palHd hand so thin; 
And the passions, whate'er they have been, 

As the seaweeds, cold and dead; — 
'Tis then — all observant — we borrow 

Sad thoughts from the sorrowful din 
For existence, with every morrow 
More frantic; we hark to that sorrow 

Then the tide of Age sets in. 

When the tide of Thought sets in 

With its signs the unanimous clan 
And unions united, akin 
And aflame with the fervor to win, 

With one will, with one mind, as one man! 
O ye in your luxuries lying 

On couches of pleasure and sin. 
Hark to this: all injustice is dying, 
And the winds will be swell'd with your sighing 

When the tide of Thought sets in. 

When the tide of Blood sets in — 

But no! that will never be; 
We'll fight, but no sanguinous sin 
Shall stain us, however we win, 

However we strive to be free. 
But Beauty! you smile too serenely, 
And Hauteur! too high is your head. 

Calm matron, so jewell'd and queenly. 
Cold Magnate, whose millions so meanly 
Are pilfer'd, like gems from the dead — 

Oh chasten your vulgar adorning, 
And lull your extravagant din. 

And hold not the lowly to scorning 



so STAR GAZING 

Nor torture too far! heed this warning 
No sangninous tide will set in. 

THERE'S HATRED IN MY HE^RT. 

There's hatred in my heart, and well there may, 

When I look out upon the world and see 
Vast tracts of want, augmenting every day, 
And aching multitudes who cannot say 
Aught is their own save moping misery. 

There's hatred in my soul, a fiendish hate, 

When I behold the glittering ones pass by, 
Whose lot in life is golden, whose estate 
Was built by mean and ignominious trait, 
Sustained by beastly-tame supinity. 

The vilest worms are not beneath the sod, 

The loathsome serpent slumbers in the sun; 
Ye heartless ones that helpless hearts have trod, 
Ye sateless ones, ignoblest works of God, 
Your evil destiny will yet be run! 

I would I were a Titan for an hour. 

And every gorging thing before me fled, 
That bodied into one vast writhing pow'r, 
Hissing its venom like a upas show'r. 

How soon my heel would be upon its head! 

WE BACKWARD LOOK. 

We backward look, what doth appear? 
Long days of toil and little cheer; 
We forward glance and it is clear 

The same m.ust be 
Until the day we disappear 

From slavery. 

From sun to sun it is the same, 
A struggle to preserve the fiame 



STAR GAZING 51 



Of life; the battle, ah how tame! 

We but subsist 
On despots' dregs, our end and aim 

Is to e>:ist. 

Monotony! it is the curse 

Of modern man, who must rehearse 

One lifelong act if he would nurse 

The vital breath; 
Unceasing sameness! it is worse 

Than many a death. 

THE OUTBOUND SHIP. 

It was a summer's afternoon 

Down on the burning sands 
I watcht a stately ship prepare 

To pass to foreign lands. 

Ah, damsel with the streaming eyes 

That partest from thy swain. 
Who knows, it may be better far 

Ye'll never meet again. 

Oh, lady, with the haughty glance 

And cold, imtender glare, 
Perchance out yonder in the deep 

Thou'lt weep in thy despair' 

Great magnate with the steely eye. 

Of avaricious shine. 
The meanest fish that swims the deep 

Perchance may on thee dine! 

Frail youth, so hollow-cheekt and thin, 

And eyes of deathly shine, 
Thou deemst it far across the deep, 

A longer journey thine. 



52 STAR GAZING 

My heart was sad that afternoon 

As on the burning- sands 
I sat and watcht that stately ship 

Depart for foreign lands. 

TO MICHAEL AMBROSE MACNEIL. 
Of Boston, Massachusetts. 

Friend Mac: These be the days of greed, 
And grasp, and glut of mammon, 

When hard times harder times succeed, 
And famine follows famine. 

The wild dog on the prairie vast 

Extinctionward is darting, 
But human wolves are breeding fast, 

And manhood is departing! 

We have philanthropists indeed, 

Bequests and donors plenty, 
Who dole a million, and succeed 

In safely filching twenty. 

Oh not for their souls' sake they give, 

For gorgers such as they 
Are soulless, and each hour they live 

Sees plenty melt away. 

How blest this nation of the free. 

With masters all around us! 
How blest we sons of liberty. 

When cold and hunger hound us! 

My friend, what's needed most is thought. 
And myriad-mouth'd expression; 

If men had never utter'd aught, 
We'd still have old appression. 

Feb. 4, 1903. Written in the winter of the coal famine. 



STAR GAZING 53 

IN JOYFUL REALMS. 

In joyful realms, remote from fancy's seeing, 
Where dies no flow'r and fades no aspiration, 

Where beauty bides eternally unfleeing, 

Where being clings forever unto being, 
Unwaking from the blest infatuation. 

As when we meet here on this changing sphere. 

Our fancied comrade happy for a day. 
Oh wildly fervent, for one hour sincere, 
Safe for one moment from the sigh and tear — 

That joy in joyful realms for aye and aye. 

As when we sink into the realms of sleep, 

From wearing griefs, augmenting sadness sever, 
When lo! a face whose beauty bids us weep. 
Unearthly sweet! we strive in vain to keep, 
Such lovely one will bide with us forever 

i 

In joyful realms. In deepest spirits dwells 
A sweet assurance, as a fragrance vernal, 
That we shall roam in far and fadeless dells 
With shining ones, where no remembrance tells 
Of aught of grief, but happiness eternal. 

YONDER. 

Uncharnel'd climes! untomb'd Eternity! 

Unmausoleum-mark'd, unmournful mounded; 
Nor silent-citied, with sad cemetery 

Flower-piled by pallid hands and hearts death 
wounded. 
Nor faded fields the soaring ever see. 

Nor blighted blooms, nor valleys autumn-bounded; 
Nor falling leaf, nor trodden blossom view. 
Nor sapless limb, nor lightning'd bough imbue 

With gloom exultant hearts un-sorrow-sounded. 



54 STAR GAZING 

Where ripply rivers glimmer, tear-unmingled. 

Where morning dews remembrance no tear, 
Where ocean shores, sweet-murmurous, pearl shingled, 

And diamond-sanded, tinted gem'd and clear. 
Where faroff vermeil vapors are outsingled 

By cherubim, and raced with echoing cheer; 
Where silver plumes from fleeing seraphim 
Descend like flakes; where eyes are never dim, 
Nor brows belined, nor bosoms passion-tingled. 

Where love abides, and pure affection rises 

From love that never wakens from its dream ; 
And eon to eon one soul another prizes 

More fond, to never stray from all they seem ; 
Where love condones, and sweetly compromises 

Misunderstanding winds that rough its stream. 
Where souls shall find the one responding soul. 
Predestined comrade, and as ages roll. 

The matchless charm remains — immortalizes. 

For naught can die, nor impulse thought nor sound, 

Heart-well'd and sweet; the mortal spirit stunted, 
Deficient, in eternity is found 

Full-forming, with a destiny confronted 
Of glorious aim; and oh! the joy profound, 

The rapturous exclaims at tasks surmounted, 
The exultation in the deathless years 
For fond research; and with extatic peers. 

Drinks deep of springs of lore exhaustless-founted. 

And none shall die, nor pass the anguish'd hour 

Which meditates inevitable doom. 
Nor pathway thorn'd, nor serpent-hiding flower. 

Nor vernal vistas focus'd to the tomb ; 
Where midnight shines as morning, and the dower 

Of every spirit youth's unfading bloom, 
Where haunting charms, faint dream'd in mortal sleep, 



STAR GAZING 



55 



Are found like flowers ; where sylphy visions keep 
Insatiate tryst by never-fading bower. 

WHEN DARKNESS COMES. 

When darkness com^s, and nighttime harmonies 

Of plaintive sighings wake the far and near, 
Repining sounds, the echo and the breeze. 
With pensive meaning, mournful cadences; 
And lights that glow and dim and disappear 

Over the meadow, out upon the river, 

From bank to bank, like lighted ghosts they flee; 
And I can see the darksome water quiver 
Beneath those fitful gleams, inconstant ever, — 

xA.nd many a bubbly sound proclaims to me. 

And shining scale, life's mournfulest ordaining. 

Life seeking life — dark, merciless decree; 
Alas! that Death waits not the final weaning 
Throughout life's realms, his eager hand restraining 
'Til came decay and sere senility. 



Inquire not now: all answerless will be 
For ages yet the question uppermost; 

Oblivion cold, or bright eternity. 

To stay with Earth, or pass the shining host. 

Inquire not now: for ages must remain 
Unanswer'd the sublime interrogation; 

To brightly flee, and pass the sapphire plain. 
Or darkly sink to chill annihilation. 

THAT DARKSOME RIVER. 

That darksome river, breadthless and unsounded, 
Which laps forever the eternal space. 



S6 STAR GAZIiNG 

Which we must breast, by silent night surrounded, 
Which we must brave, to stand at last confounded 
Before unswerving Justice, face to face. 

O who will venture on that soundless river 

Without some buoyance? ever round us lying 
Are dormant deeds which will forsake us never, 
WTiich will sustain us and maintain us ever. 
Above that struggle and that anxious sighing. 

That darksome river — hearken O ye silent, 

Departed ones! when we draw near the shore, 
And rest us, weary, on some outer island, 
O send us, gazing from your happy highland. 
Some smiling sign that every sigh is o'er. 

IN AFTER TIME. 

In after time will there be branded ones. 

In sombre souls must there be struggling then? 

And will there be beneath those lessening suns 
White faces flitting thro' the throngs of men. 

As I now see wan visages that flee 
With what misery. 

In after time will there be joy and laughter, 
Exultant leaping of the unharrass'd heart? 

And will there be sweet music echoing after 
The festival where now but woes upstart? 

So fast our tears methinks there'll be no laughter 
In centuries after. 

And will there pass each other in the street 

Estrang'd and cold bosoms once warm and true? 

And where were smiles but frowning faces meet, 
And where such love but blackness meet the view. 

And will there then upstart the quenchless blaze 
Of former davs? 



STAR GAZING 

In after time what will the answer be 
To Hfe's unscruted problem? far within 

The Hghtless future where, evolvingly, 
Events abide, as all the past has been, 

Dwell formless forces, terrible, untam'd. 
Unknown, unnam'd. 

And where will be the exalted of today. 
The lowly and the nameless, you and I? 

As tree and flower and fruit are swept away, 
Not we alone, our memory will die! 

As fades the smile, as perish falling tears 
In far after years. 

THAT DARKNESS WAITS US. 

"That darkness waits us and annihilation. 

That we must vanish even as a spark; 
As from the flow'ret passes animation, 
As melteth morning hues, our destination 
Oblivion's realm, and starless cold and dark. 

"That we must vanish as a bubble breaking, 

As shadows cease, that pass to utter nought; 
And as a ray its parent sun forsaking, 
Melts in midspace, the faroiT world unmaking, 
So that high Hope an infant's dream, a thought. 

So feebly speak whose dismal voices are 
Of vacant import; for their souls are dead 

To telepathic tidings from afar; 

To them the stars as if they never were. 

And darkness round, beneath and overhead. 

The dark belief, the doubting and the crying 

Will pass away and we shall learn to see 
Into those realms where beauty is undying — 
Far shining cities and the throng unsighing — 
And as a child deem of eternitv. 



57 



58 STAR GAZING 

IN DAYS OF BRIGHTNESS. 

And must I then be as a silent sod, 

And pass to nothing even as a thought 
Unmemoried? a footmark that was trod 
On stormy sands? Art thou forsaken, God, 
By thine own children listlessly forgot? 

In days, of brightness when our mornings waken 
To buoyancy, and evenings come in gladness, 

Art Thou not then. All Loving One, forsaken? 

Who deems of Thee 'til anguish overtaken. 

And shadows loom of death and fearful sadness? 

T would not sink and be a silent clod. 
And fade to nothing even as a dream. 

I dwell not on decay, the wormy sod. 

And not in sorrow only deem of God, 

But days of brightness and in bliss supreme. 

IN COMING TIME. 

In coming time what marvels will there be, 
What dormant wonders, wrapt in silent nought, 

And many a soul-tormenting mystery. 
Inexplicable now and vainly sought, 

Repose like flow'rs upon some stream sublime. 
In coming time. 

What joy will ring thro' faroflf scenery 

No words can tell nor dream, however sweet; 

Like laughter from some rare festivity, 

Where griefless glances beaming faces meet. 

As children's echoes when they race and climb, 
In coming time. 

As when we see upon a gala day 

Replying smiles, contagious gladness beaming", 



STAR GAZING 



59 



The smiles which now but momentary play, 

Bright fancies now but momentary teaming, 
So all sustained, 'mid scenery sublime, 
In coming- time. 



ODE TO TWO YEARS. 

The hands point upward, seeming one, 
Thy race, Old Year, is all but run. 
Thy final moment hath begun! 

Thy wings are spread, 
Hush! 'tis thy passing bell — 'tis done. 

The year is dead. 

Thou wilt return no more — not here, 
But haply in some happier sphere 
Art biding now — thy swift career 

Speeds ever on, 
To countless planets cold and drear 

Hast comie and gone! 

Hail infant year! but moments old. 
What wilt thou bring? What wilt unfold? 
What wonder new shall we behold 

Ere thy decay? 
What evil ere thy knell be tolled 

Will pass away? 

Thy parent, Babe, brought many a pleasure, 
And by that power we cannot measure, 
Will Evolution, at her leisure, 

Our souls uplift. 
What strange, astounding, undreamed treasure 

Will be thy gift? 

Of unborn years — desire intense 
To pierce beyond. Omniscience 



6o STAR GAZING 

Alone can see — to mortal sense 

No glimpse appears, 
What marvels — what magnificence 

Of unborn years! 

Old year, farewell! moist eyes are drying, 
Ten thousand eyes have seen thee dying. 
Ten thousand ears have heard thee flying. 

Thy passing bell 
Hath hush'd ten thousand bosoms, sighing; 

Dead year — farewell ! 

Thou hast departed — not alone 

Thou, numbered year. As cold as stone 

Somewhere some soul, perchance unknown, 

Hath left its clay. 
The very moment thou hadst flown 

It soared away! 

That moment o'er ten thousand earths 

Of meaner or surpassing girths, 

Did hover, and ten thousand hearths 

Heard happier breaths 
Or heavier hearts — ten thousand births, 

Ten thousand deaths! 

Hail infant year! and many a chime 
Rings welcome wild. From lands sublime 
That moment unto mortal clime 

An angel fleeing 
Accompanied to the bounds of time 

Some spotless being — 

That deathless spirit born with thee 
That weeps or smiles where'er it be 
Or harketh to the wild and free 
And frenzied chimes, 



STAR GAZING 6 I 



Is heir to all Eternity 
And happy climes. 

Year after year like wave on wave 
Comes rolling by ; — tho' bright and brave 
Our various dreams — the most we crave 

Is pleasure's fill, 
'Till — dread awakening — lo, the grave 

Yawns dark and chill — 

Yawns dark and dread that gloomy goal;- 

Our final hour- — we may control 

Its terrors now; and when that scroll. 

Our past, we read. 
How soothing to the sinking soul 

Some saintlv deed! 



WHEN COMES DECAY. 

When comes decay, and thought and sentient dream 
Wax fervorless, and ardent yearnings wane, 

And bright expectancy and fervent theme ; 

Anf farofT fortune, foolish tho' it seem, 
Becomes cold fancy, fatuous and vane; — 

When seasons pass, how swiftly! when bright Spring 

Means one more milestone to the gloomy goal; 
When Summer only mournful meanings bring, 
And Autumn days, so bleak and withering. 
Speak only of departure to the soul, — 

Then look thee starward. melancholy one, 

And joyful walk thy darkening autumn way, 
Nor glance thee into chill oblivion, 
But gaze beyond the faintest shining sun 
To that far home where never comes decav. 



62 STAR GAZING 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



MR. WILLIAM SHUAISKY. 

William Shnmsky is a young' Jewish poet of Boston. 
He was born in Franklin, Alass., was educated in the 
public schools of Boston, and is now only 21 years of 
age. In 1905 Mr. Shumsky and myself made a tour of 
Europe and the Holy Lands, and it is to Mr. Shumsky's 
enthusiasm, indefatigable industry and gift in impart- 
ing his knowledge to others that I owe my acquaintance 
with the Hebrew^ language. His poetry is written en- 
tirely in the Jewish tongue as he composes only for 
the amusement of his own people. 

MR. PRICE COTTLE. 

Mr. Price Cottle was born in Los Angeles, Cal., 
about 34 years ago. In 1896 he came to Boston to ac- 
cept a government position. His lingual gifts are ex- 
traordinary. 



A DREAM. 

(From the Hebrew.) 

I clasped her gently, looking in her face 

Of seraph beauty — inexpressible 
The warmth and purity of that embrace 
And loving whisper — time will not efface 

In many a day the glow I cannot tell. 

Alas! alas! that we can never meet 

In living life the image of our trance ; 
The rapturous presence and the gesture sweet, 
The look which memory loveth to repeat, 
The manv a dav recurring countenance. 



STAR GAZING 63 

SONNET TO ESTHER. 
(From the Hebre\Y.) 

So bright was she her image cannot flee 
Into ObHvion, but in my heart 
It doth repose, inaHenable part 

Of all I am and all that I can be. 

Like uninspired materiality 

The myriad face of beauty; if perchance, 
I bask brief moments in some lovely glance, 

But transient dreams, and fade from memory. 
But thou, oh never dying spell! thy power 
Is still unchang'd as from that primal hour 

Of comradeship, when happiness was o'er 
Apart from other. Like convergent beams 
That momentary meet, end either streams 

On paths unknown, unmeeting evermore. 

SONG TO ROSENA. 
(From the Hebrew of Wm. Shumsky.) 

Her cheek is like new-fallen snow, 

By rosy windows tinted; 
Her locks would make a yellow heap, 

Like sovereigns newly minted. 
And by the arrows of her eyes 

My bosom did surrender; 
I saw, and sigh'd to be her slave, 

And all my life attend her. 

Like one that's fetter'd hand and foot, 

Chain'd in a cell securely. 
Is he who comes within her spell. 

Her charms will bind him, surely. 
Her eyes with lustre overflow, 

Her voice is wondrous tender; 



64 STAR GAZING 

I heard, and sigh'd to be a slave 
And all my life attend her. 

Like nymphs that lave in lilied streams, 

Her motions are entrancing, ' 

Like music and like poetry. 

Like Beauty lightly dancing; 
One fervent dart, my soul was hers. 

One accent, wondrous tender. 
One smile. I sigh'd to be her slave 

And all my life attend her. 

SWEET ^L\IDEX OF THE BROWN EYE. 
(From the Hebrew.) 

Sweet maiden of the brown eye. 

Of cheek like tinted dawn. 
Like vapor pale and tinted, 

Just ere the tint is gone; 
But ah! the air that lingers there, 

Like Welcome beckoning on. 

Sweet maiden of the red lips, 

^lore richly dyed than dawn 
In bright midsummer morning 

Before the dews are gone; 
But ah! the pearls reposing there. 

And priceless every one. 

Sweet maiden of the dark hair, 

More dusk than ere the dawn. 
That well would match the sable wing 

Which minstrels rhyme upon; 
But ah! the ebon lustre there. 

And gloss that's never gone. 

Sweet maiden of the brown eye, 
]\Iore tender than the dawn, 



STAR GAZING 65 

That glimmers down on waiting dews 

And dries the dampened stone; 
But ah! their deep affection, 

And all for me alone. 

SONNET. 

(From the Esperanto of Price Cottle.) 

SUSPICION. 

Ah pale thou art, and there's a sombre sign 

Of anguish round thee, and unutter'd grief 
Those depths of starry tenderness confine ; 
And on that brow — so alien unto thine 

Serenity, like jealousy's belief— 
I see the sadness deepen line by line. 
My spirit's comrade! smile once more on me, 

Laugh but one moment that I may depart 
With smiles and dimples in my memory, 

With silvery intonations in my heart! 
Unanswering thou! I did not deem thee thus; 

Methought that breast was kindliness alone, 

Impulsive but to pity and condone; — 
Into my heart a desolate grief is creeping. 
Thine own so still and cold and ominous ; 
Ah let me clasp thee wildly — thou art weeping! 

SONNET. 

(From the Esperanto of Price Cottle.) 

THE RECONCILIATION. 

I claspt her fervently, a fragile being, 

I kiss'd her as she lay my arms within, 
And held her from me for insatiate seeing, 
Her languid loveliness, so well agreeing 

With ardent dreams where she has ever been. 



66 STAR GAZING 

I claspt her tenderly, and near my heart 
I heard her own, and on her snowy brow 

Impressed my hps. My soul! not now thou art 
A slum'brous fantasy, nor fleeting now. 

The shadows deepen and the twilight flowers 
Incline in sleep; far on the lethean sea 

The myriad multitudes, and happy hours 
Fall now^ on many; sleep comes not to me. 
Nor hath oblivion realm a sweeter dream than thee. 

ON VACATION. 
PRELUDE. OVER YONDER. 

Across the river, following the path 

Up the embankment, striking on the trail 

Into the deep woods, where the sunlight hath 
No entry, nor the boist'rous meadow gale: 

On mossy pathways, thro' dark isles I'll wander, 
Over yonder. 

Behind the hill, along the intervale. 

Up the red sandstone, by the icy spring. 

My halfway rest, and striking on the trail 
Into the deep wood where wild accents ring: 

On mossy floors, in sylvan halls I'll ponder. 
Over yonder. 

TO DR. MAURICE E. PAINE FITZ GERALD, OF 
BOSTON, MASS. 

Antigonish, N. S., Aug. lo, 1906. 

Dear Doctor: Once again I sit 

Me down in a poetic fit; 

My glass is nigh, my pipe is lit, 

I'll taste good cheer; 
Yes, I will make the most of it 

While I am here. 



STAR GAZING 6/ 

We're here today, we're gone tomorrow, 

This hour we smilfe, the next we sorrow; 

Art down in the mouth? drink rum or borrow 

A phonograph; 
Ere settHng in the coffin narrow 

No harm to laugh. 

How recreative field and wood, 
How soothing-sweet alone to brood 
With nature when the troubl'd mood 

Belines the brow; 
The soul expands in solitude 

The bards avow. 

How pleasant is this country road. 

Enticing even when o'erflow'd 

With drifting dust: here comes a load 

Of fragrant hay; 
Hey there! you jolly jumping toad. 

Get out the way! 

How cool, to municipal glare, 

These smokeless hills and valleys fair; 

As blest a contrast, I declare, 

As land to see, 
After the dreadful mal de mer, 

Ah, sacre! oui. 

I'll rest me in this shady nook; 
I didn't fetch, nor need a book. 
Enough for me the running brook; — 

And now egad, 
At nature I will have a look — 

This rum's not bad! 

Here in this dell of mint Ell pass 
A fragrant hour; how cool the grass; 
What herb is this? my head, alas. 
I ne'er could cram it 



68 STAR GAZING 

With nomenclature; by the mass 
It's ragwort, damn it! — 

The weed that makes the farmers svVear, 
The Wight of Nova Scotia's fair 
And fertile fields; upon the air 

The seed is blown; 
And wheresoe'er it lighteth, there 

The pest is known. 

Some forty years ago 'twas brought 
From South America, and thought 
All harmless; on the wharf, forgot, 

By sailors thrown; 
And now no roadside, field or plot 

But it is known. 

Thou dirty alien! poison plant. 

If good for aught thou wouldst be scant ; 

Tenacious as the flea or ant, 

Thou thrivest fast; 
And all the rustic gossips grant 

You're here to last. 

But what's this weed to do with me? 
Oh, nothing! like to let you see 
I've studied some in botany; 

And now b'giim, 
I'll have another — here's to ye — 

Hooray for rum! 

Here's to my friends! may their regard 
Be mine to foster, nor discard; 
Malignant evils, pressing hard. 

May we outlive 'em ; 
As for my foes, may hell reward — 

But I forgive 'em! 



STAR GAZING 69 



Now Mrs. Wasp, go 'long with ye, 

You're not in my society! 

But here's your health ! may you and me 

Be here next June! 
'Rah! 'rah! for Ireland! when she's free — 

Not yet, but soon! 

Hah! what was that? methinks did hear 
A rustling movement very near 
In that deep grass; a toad is there! 

A look I'll take; 
A lizard maybe; I declare 

It is a snake! 

Not one, but forty! ho, ho, ho. 
It must be that a snakey show 
Is going on; — but no — but no — 

Oh Lord forgive! 
The Devil's juice I will forego 

As long's I live. 

I'll put for home: 'Twas awful lichor, 
Oh my poor head — I'm feeling sicker! 
My blood is boiling — getting thicker! 

'Twas fearful stuff! 
Sneer if you will, and grin and snicker — 

I've had enough. 

The man who drinks and ne'er forsakes 
His work, and health and comfort takes 
From stimulent — he's wise who makes 

Good use of it; 
But when you see a grove of snakes 

It's time to quit. 

O drink! the evil of the day, 

What plans thy flood hath swept away ; 



70 STAR GAZING 

What youthful hosts have gone astray 

Returning never; 
Ambition 'neath thy fatal sway 

Subsides forever. i 

For thee men drain the bitter dregs 
Of death and madness; childhood begs 
Wolf-ey'd, and age on palsi'd legs 

Becomes outcast; | 

Thou woe more widespread than the plagues 

Of all the past. 

Not those alone who sink beneath 

Thy boundless blight; ere shroud and wreath 

For generations yet to breathe 

They form the fashion; 
To unborn innocents bequeathe 

The fatal passion. 

Dear Doctor, it is time to finish; 
The hour is late, the lights diminish; 
This stufT may all be Green or Finnish 

To you, alas! 
(Hold on a shake 'till I replenish 

My empty glass). 

I've eaten apples quite a lot, 
Too green I fear; I never thought 
Of consequences — something hot 

ril have to take; ' 

Ouch! — I must close — oh, oh, Fve got 

The bellyache! 

TO DR. EDWARD A. TRACEY, OF BOSTON, 

MASS. 

Antigonish, N. S., Aug. 13, 1906. 

Dear Doctor: I have hied away 
To beautiful Acadia; 



STAR GAZING 

My pulse is good, my feelings gay, 

My head is level; 
Ye cares that long had me at bay, 

Go to the devil! 

Fresh air and sunsliine, hail to ye! 
Hail exercise! health giving three; 
Hail to delightful scenery 

Far from the Hub; 
Hail long sound sleep — so new to me — 

Hail good fresh grub! 

Yes, Doctor, I could leave behind 

Forever the unceasing grind, 

The maddening, murdering, blighting blind 

Pursuit of mammon; 
And live unfetter'd, unconfin'd 

As any gamin. 

To roavn the field and tramp the wood, 
Untortur'd by the countless brood 
Of bus'ness cares that sap the blood 

And sear the brain ; 
Unmixing with the multitude 

Whose god is Gain. 

Yet, Doc, this is a narrow way 
To look at life : From day to day 
You toil and moil and get your pay 

E'en as you should ; 
Cut ofif a leg (or what you may) 

You're doing good. 

We're here to work, but princip'ly 
To help each other. I may be 
Disgruntled at the drudgery, 
Complaining loud: 



72 STAR GAZING 

If I assist humanity 
I should be proud. 

Here, from this mountain top I see 
What grandeur spreading out from me; 
The woodland's crimson scenery 

In sunset glow! 
The river, intershiningly, 

Winds far below. 

The day begins to disappear, 
The infant river gurgles near, 
The swain is thinking of his dear, 

And hikes to meet her; 
The night, how beautifully clear, 

And (damn that skeeter!) — 

And night birds waken. Here and there 
A firefly flecks the darkening air; 
How pleasant to be free from care! 

A bullfrog croaks 
As stifling in his watery lair — 

(I hope he chokes!) 

How sweet the country when you've fled 
From burning bricks and ceaseless tread 
Of restless feet; The day is dead: 

About my bunk 
Sweet odors waft in from the mead — 

Ugh! phew! that skunk! 

I've steamed ten thousand miles of main. 
Sailed up the Thames, sailed down the Seine ; 
I saw the spot where Lady Jane 

Mislaid her head; 
The spot where Raleigh, too, was slain 

And Bolvn bled. 



STAR GAZING 73 



I've traveled weary leagues, I have! 
Conversed with Latin, Celt and Slav; 
I've studied many a noble knave; 

Saw Byron's tomb; 
I marveled at Napoleon's grave, 

That man of gloom. 

I've seen King Louis' bloody shirt, 
Three centuries "unwashed, unhurt," 
Yet mirky with the gory squirt, 

Right plain to see; 
A gruesome witness to inert, 

Malmonarchy. 

I've traveled some — I've been around! 
I saw the slab upon the ground 
Where stood the guillotine — confound 

Its memory! 
Where gentle, helpless w'omen found 

Eternity. 

Hell-hearted brutes! were't not enough 
To drink the blood of sterner stufif? 
However, w^e are not less rough — 

Take Gov'nor Bell 
And "Teddy Rosenfelt" the grufif, 

Whose records tell 

Unpitying barbarity 
To' erring femininity; 
Evolving soul! I cannot see 

The sense or fitness 
To vaunt adva'nced psychology 

As facts will witness. 

But yet in justice to the plan 
Of Darwin the events I scan 
Occurred wdthin too brief a span 
Of fleeting time; 



74 STAR GAZING 

The evolutionary man — 

How vague his cHmb! / 

If we could vision, as a year, 
Eonic cycles, 'twould be clear 
Tlie ethic transmutation here; 

The change would be 
As vernal day to winter drear; 

And we would see 

A picture of the brutal past 
So ghastly we would be aghast. 
And pray the horror not to last 

One instant more; 
But ruthful veils are wisely cast 

Our eyes before. 

Yes, I have traveled up and down 
This planet, and have weary grown 
Of living customs not my own; 

Here I could stay 
Amid these wafts of pure ozone 

And while away 

Eiventless years. Our hfe is brief, 
As frailly fastened as the leaf; 
Death cometh as the nightly thief 

We dread to scan; 
We live, we die; these are the chief 

Events of man. 

Ye horrid thoughts — away! away! 

Ye shall not spoil my holiday; 

And brighter words than death to say 

How fresh this breeze, 
Full-freighted from the meadow hay 

And apple trees. 



STAR GAZING 

I pass o'er stream, thro' thymy dell; 
How sweet to me the tinkling bell 
Upon that cow; it is to tell 

Where stray the kine; 
x\ happy scheme — exceeding well 

And superfine! 

See t'other cow; she comes to see 
What sort of creature I may be; 
Co bossie! she appears to me 

Ayrshire — milk full; 
Good heavens ! I must climb a tree — 

It is the bull! 

I fear no bull — outside the fence ; 
But he advances; his intents 
May be of serious consequence: 

Skidoo for me; 
Who argues with a bull repents — 

So 23! 

I'll pike for it: I was an ass 
This dirty field to ever pass; 
I hear his hoofs upon the grass 

At thundering clip; 
If I should sink in this morass! 

If I should trip! 

I feel his snorting hot behind me; 
This perspiration — it will blind me; 
Another moment he will grind me 

With gory blows ; 
And in this swamp no man will find me- 

T'll feed the crows! 

In studying natural scenery 
A "soulful calm" is necess'ry; 



75 



7 6 STAR GAZING 

No tliymy dells occur to me, 

No thickets dense; 
No prattling brooks — naught can I see 

Except the fence! 

Alack! I'm done for; now I feel 
My final moment: shall I squeal 
Aloud for help? I stagger — reel — 

Amid these thorns; 
And — ^Julius Caesar! sharp as steel 

I feel his horns! 

And such is life: we watch the sky 

In rosy reveries; the sigh 

Is absent, and the moments fly — 

Oh yes! the bull — 
I haven't space enough to die, 

The page is full. 

I feel ai; I have the label 

Of health upon me; and — no fable — 

So hungry I clean ofif the table; 

The plates I lick; 
I tell you I am getting able 

And very slick! 

Dear Doc. forgive this rigmorole, 
I did not mean, upon my soul. 
To smother you with such a scroll 

Of witless talk; 
(Have yet got in your winter's coal?) 

So long, dear Doc! 

DEPARTED DAYS. 

(Song-Sonnet.) 

Departed Days! ye glow unwonted sweet; 
The ardent hours, the long descending suns, 



STAR GAZING 77 

The sounds the echoes pensively repeat, 

Like dreamed replyings of departed ones ; 
The alder'd valley where the rivers meet, 

The lapp-ed banks, with blossoms waving gay, 
The arbor'd homes which fancy must complete. 

The wistful hills, so green and far away! 
Departed days! ye have not fled forever. 

Your mornings waken and your waters run, 
Your echo'd chimes still float across the river, 

Your evening lamps are lighted one by one! 
And round your hearths, when night hath darkly set, 
Are ember-brightened faces, happy vet. 

A RIVER DREAM. 

I wander'd into Autumn's silent wood. 

Red carpeted, with interwoven gray 
And yellow blends, a soundless solitude. 

And to a lonesome valley made my way. 
And on a moss lawn by a bubblv stream 

I lay me, and the endless eddying held 
My glances, 'til a Reverie and Dream 

Alighted near, but gently were repell'd. 



She was but fleeting; and her trailing tress 
Her single raiment, in the setting sun 

Of golden strands, as o'er the water-cress 
She wafted by me, that resplendent one! 

And with the turning of the stream she went, — 

Some sylvan sylph — or river-resident. 

WINTER. 

Season severe, and anesthetic time. 

Dissembling death the tree and shrub and flower; 
When life's mysterious currents cannot climb 

The fibrous veins for manv a frozen hour. 



7^ STAR GAZING 

Even as a stream that fades into the sands, 

Continuing unseen, is dormant life; 
And oft I wonder, 'mid the bleak woodlands. 

Where now the tides in summer branches rife. 

Like to a fire that sweeps a monarch's halls 
And flame its greed infernal satiates. 

Licking the priceless landscapes from the walls. 
And fabric dreams — so Winter desolates. 

Remaining blooms and yet green avenues, 
Like to a city where a plague has pass'd, 

Or as a banner'd fleet, with gallant crews. 
Left tempest wreckt, and naked every mast. 

Yet, Winter, cheerless in the broad domain 
Of nature, thou hast many a happy hearth; 

And spite thy bleak and desolating reign, 
Happiness still finds many a spot on earth. 

There is a fever in the human breast 

That thirsts for every season ere its turn; 

Sharp, whistling winds for blossoms bring a zest, 
And mid green glens for snowflakes do we yearn. 



WHEN COMES REGRET. 

When comes Regret, unbidden guest of Thought, 
That formless spectre ever found behind 

My chair of meditation, then hath not 

Departed spirits that repining wrought 

By seeking converse with the living mind? 
That viewless shadow, traceless, undefined, 

Of unaccounted source, pervades the breast; 
And as the sighing of the Autumn wind, 
Whose subtle meaning words may never find. 

So comes Regret, Thought's uninvited guest. 



STAR GAZING 



TO MARY. 



79 



Thou wert to me as roses, rich and new, 

An alien odor wafted to the street 

From chapel censer; and unwonted sweet 
Thy spirit, purer than the morning dew. 

Ah, when with thee how richly was I blest! 
How golden were the moments, bright and free; 

And since those hours the dragging years attest 
How priceless were one moment spent with thee. 

My sands are down, and passions' fires are flow'n, 
Infatuation's fever hath declined; 

Yet sweet to me, as blossoms newly blown. 
Is memory, with thy beauty intertwnn'd! 

And like soul treasures, born of charity 

To man and bird and beast, are thoughts of thee. 



HAY 24 t90T 



